In-plant Profiles

With U.S. forces still deployed in Iraq, the CIA's intelligence data is more crucial to national security than ever. The agency relies on its in-plant to publish this top-secret information. by Bob Neubauer Long before the first U.S. troops began their march toward Baghdad, President Bush turned to the CIA for the latest intelligence information on Iraq. The Central Intelligence Agency, in turn, relied on its office of Imaging & Publishing Support (IPS) to print this classified information quickly and accurately. In the same vein, when the country was preparing to enter Afghanistan in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks, IPS

A strong focus on customers, along with expertise in process color printing and online ordering, have built University of Missouri-Columbia Printing Services into an in-plant powerhouse. by Bob Neubauer Not many in-plants can lay claim to a six-color press—let alone two of them. But when you're the largest printing operation in a city of 84,500, the big jobs have a way of finding you. With 105 full- and part-time employees, University of Missouri-Columbia Printing Services is not only a local printing giant, but one of the top in-plants in the country. It ranked 27th on the recent IPG Top 50, and boasted sales of

From road construction to university printing, Joe Goss' customer service skills have served him well. by Bob Neubauer "No previous printing experience needed." Those were the words on the job notice that caught Joe Goss' eye back in 1985. After 12 years in the road construction business, he was starting to wonder about his future. The slumping economy was taking its toll on business. Figuring he had nothing to lose, Goss applied for the job as director of Indiana University Printing Services, in Bloomington. Much to his surprise, he was called for an interview. That interview revealed that the in-plant, though very proficient

When you work for Sunkist, it's pretty important to be able to print the color orange. That was one of the first things Tim Criswell realized five years ago after he was hired to run the in-plant at Sunkist Growers, in Sherman Oaks, Calif. At the time, the small shop was printing only forms and stationery. Everything that featured Sunkist's five-color logo had to be printed outside. This irked Criswell. He wanted to print that logo. "That, to me, was easy growth," he says. So he traded an unneeded collator for a used one-color Heidelberg KORD and went to work. Customers had

It's not often a school district print shop lands the printing for an entire city. But Carson Bartels, coordinator of central print services for Waterloo Community School District, saw an opportunity to grab an extra 17 percent of additional revenue for his in-plant, and he took it. Nine years ago, Waterloo, Iowa's city print shop had just said good-bye to its veteran manager as she left for retirement. The city was considering outsourcing the abandoned in-plant's work, but Bartels stepped up, insisting that his four-employee shop could pick up where the old manager left off. Bartels proved his in-plant could save the city money,

Trinity Church has played a part in much of New York's history. On September 11, 2001, it participated again. The in-plant, as usual, was there to help.

"In college you learn management skills from a book. In the Navy you get hands-on experience dealing with many different types of people in very stressful situations," says Jimmy Robinson, printing department director at the University of West Alabama. Drawing from the leadership skills he learned as print shop supervisor aboard the USS Kitty Hawk (and the strategies he read in college), Robinson has spent 19 years building this small southern in-plant into a seasoned survivor responsible for 95 percent of all the work printed by the university. Technology, quality and efficiency, he says are the focus areas that will keep an in-plant alive.

When you're the only guy in the print shop, everything's your fault. So if the in-plant isn't pulling it's weight, it's your job on the line. "Over the years, watching so many shops go out of business, I've looked for different avenues to take [to ensure the shop's survival]," says Larry Clements, director of printing at Redlands Community College and the shop's only full-timer. The solo operation is especially tough because the El Reno, Okla., school won't let Clements charge more for printing than the cost of the materials. With a profit margin thinned out to a big fat zero, Clements did what anyone

If your in-plant has only a handful of employees, don't feel too bad. You have lots of companionship. But if you're using your size as an excuse for not expanding, then pay attention to what these small in-plants have been doing. Despite having between one and seven employees, they have been thinking big, accomplishing goals that even Top 50-sized in-plants would envy—such as adding a Heidelberg NexPress 2100 digital color press, and printing four-color marketing material. They have found ways to generate new income and added capabilities that make them essential to their organizations. And it was all possible because they dared

No fire is beat until every flame is doused. That's how Printing Services Supervisor and firefighter Fritz Sims approaches his job. "Whatever comes into the shop, we'll do it. And if we can't do it, we'll find a way to do it," says Sims, who, after hours, serves with the Westville, N.J., fire department. A mouthful, maybe—but the seven-employee Delaware River Port Authority in-plant has the goods to back it up. It already prints 95 percent of the agency's work. "We want that five percent," Sims says. The remaining work is a blaze of color flyers and brochures promoting the Port Authority's Philadelphia/Camden